Trash bags can appear as evidence at crime scenes as they can be used to package everything from controlled substances to dead bodies. The forensic question that may be asked is whether a trash bag found at the crime scene can be associated with a roll or box of trash bags found in a suspect’s possession, when a physical match of tears, perforations or manufacturing imperfections cannot be made. In order to have a definitive answer, the physical measurements (such as length, width and thickness), optical properties and the additives of each trash bag will need to be compared.<br/>Eighty-eight trash bag samples were collected, most from the Washington DC area. A few were purchased in the US Midwest. Boxes or rolls of trash bags were purchased at supermarkets, department stores and dollar stores with special emphasis being placed on "store brands." Roughly equal numbers of white "kitchen" trash bags and the large dark trash and lawn and leaf bags were collected for examination. A majority of trash bag samples were found to have been manufactured in the United States while a very few were manufactured in China and Canada.<br/>Photomicrographs of the side-edge and bottom-edge heat seals and of the surface textures were obtained for each bag using a low magnification reflected light stereomicroscope equipped with a 14-megapixel eyepiece digital camera. It was found that the side and bottom heat seals were very useful for distinguishing different brands of trash bag. The side edge and bottom edge heat seals differentiated the trash bags into 37 and 31 different groups, respectively.

Forensic analysis of trash bags: Microscopical discrimination of trash bags

253rd National Meeting (2017)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.